........as told by A.R. Prescott

The history of Postville and vicinity is replete with incidents of a tragic as well as practical nature, if we knew them; but the thoughts and inclinations of our frontiersmen did not run in channels of literature, and thus the memory of the average "old settler" is too often the only source of information as to facts and figures conected with our early history.

When the writer was a store clerk in McGregor in 1853, chance favored me with the acquaintance of some of the earliest frontiersmen of Iowa; Graham Thorn, John Haney, Joseph Hewitt, Alex McGregor, A.E. Wanzer and James & Dan'l Carlin; most of whom as traders, soldiers, teamsters, or old settlers, delighted me with their experience among Indians of the New Purchase.

One of the stories told me by Thorn, was as follows:

A second rank Winnebago Chief named Monequa pitched his teepee about the year 1839 on a spot of ground near the Big Spring *, say twenty or thirty rods northwest of the Koevenig Brewery. He was brother to Waukon Decorah, a man of influence among his people, and a firm friend of the Post family from the first of their settlement in this locality. But as he lived south of the Military Road he was objectionable to the Musquaka's who yet claimed the country south of the road, though they had sold out to the U.S. all their lands previously, but had not all moved away; a tough band of them having a village southward across the Turkey River near where Clermont is located today. The Chief, however, continued in his position for two or three years without molestation.

One day in the early fall of 1842, a hunting party of Musquaka's lost a wounded buffalo in the thickets south of the Big Spring, and as night was coming on, were forced to abandon the chase. They could not find the wounded buffalo the next day, nor did they show themselves to Monequa, but went over to the Post's Half-Way House where they bought some tobacco, saying to Mr. Post as he handed out the goods "Winnebago, no more," and soon after disappeared.

A few days after, at early dawn, the Chief discovered a buffalo at the water course below the spring and easily dispatched him with a rifle bullet, and before the day was gone had hiim prepared for drying for winter use.

About a month after this, the Chief's dog was enticed away, as he supposed by teamsters, and at the same time, or within a day or two, four young, quiet appearing Musquaka's came to the Post's one afternoon, bought tobacco and crackers, stayed around among the teamsters until sunset, then left the place, going into the woods westward, north of the road. While at breakfast the next morning, one of the teamsters remarked that he believed he heard a gun fired some time in the night, about midnight or later.

Two days later some teamsters driving from Fort Atkinson, told Mr. Post that some dead animal was down near the spring, and as the wind was in the south, the odor was very bad along the road. Mr. Post suddenly recollected that he had not seen Monequa or any of his family for several days, a thing quite unusual. With two of the teamsters he started for the spring, where all found their worst fears more than realized.

The teepee was yet in position though considerably torn, and all around were evidences of a terrible struggle for life. But the dead and scalped bodies of the whole family of five, told the fatal result of the battle. The Chief had evidently fought at a great disadvantage, as his broken rifle, still loaded, bore testimony. The hammer had been broken, but the barrel had been used as a club till it was bent and useless. The 2 boys, aged fifteen and eleven years, must have borne their part well in the unequal combat, as the oldest was dispatched by a knife, evidently at close quarters, and a full one-half of an Indian's forefinger was found beneath his body, in all probability bitten off by the boy in a death struggle with his assailant.

It was conjectured that the absence of the dog allowed the murderers to approach close enough to the teepee to fire a volley at the victims while asleep, which probably killed the squaw and her young child at the start, and without doubt the accident to the gun occurred in the very beginning of the battle.

Our party gave the gound around some distance a careful scouting for tracks and other evidences of the line of retreat, and were rewarded by finding a fresh grave holding the corpse of one of the Musquakas in a dense thicket about three quarters of a mile away. The arms were both broken, and the head plainly indented by the rifle barrel of the murdered Chief. The murderers were easily trace towards their village and Mr. Post and the teamsters returned home. The next day they buried the family in one grave.*

Threats of retaliation were made by Decorah and his band, but the military kept a sharp watch over the matter, and in a short time the Mesquaka village was moved away and all was soon forgotten. They were only Indians.

When the writer first called Mrs. Post's attention to this incident she could not recall it, but after some thought the main feature of the tragedy came to her.

This story was also recalled by Jo. Hewitt when the writer met him at Clear Lake in 1858; who said in addition, that he had seen a Musquaka with a short fore-finger somewhere on the Turkey River about that time.

*Big Spring -- current location is just south of Merle Lange's farm
*Mesquaka's corpse -- buried in the vicinity of Iowa Turkey Plant [note: this plant, at the outskirts of Postville burned to the ground in December 2003]

- published on the Allamakee co. IAGenWeb with the generous permission of Stan Schroeder
- original transcripts provided by Stan Schroeder & transcribed by Sharyl Ferrall

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